Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by il.Tecnico on June 29, 2010 at 3:57pm

its a slippery slope to do your own PM's (preventative maintenance). I leave the door open to my clients to do some minor PM's and offer to sell the parts and pass along some basic DIY. On the other hand , I wouldn't isolate your Service provider because it takes a lot of know how to service machines. It is a Skilled Trade.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Robertson on June 29, 2010 at 8:36pm

A skilled trade it is. I would love to be trained at a La Marzoco factory. That said I am a skilled tradesman and new coffee business owner who can not yet afford to hire these technician's. So I will have the factory techs run the annual check up and gasket changes and I will pay close attention and ask where I can get these parts for the next annual gasket changes that will not be in the warranty period. Oh did I mention that even under warranty from Nuova Simoninelli the annual check up and gasket changes costs 200.00 on site for a two group. Serious incentive for an even modestly trained DYI person.
Joseph
-- Ambassador for Specialty Coffee and palate reform

il.Tecnico said:

its a slippery slope to do your own PM's (preventative maintenance). I leave the door open to my clients to do some minor PM's and offer to sell the parts and pass along some basic DIY. On the other hand , I wouldn't isolate your Service provider because it takes a lot of know how to service machines. It is a Skilled Trade.

Permalink Reply by Brady on June 30, 2010 at 6:38am

One thing that I've noticed is the wide variety of things that are recommended for "Preventative Maintenance". You have to consider what your goal is. If your goal is to prevent your machine from ever breaking down, you'll replace a pretty extensive set of parts (pressurestats, hi-limits, solenoid valves) on a regular basis long before it fails. That's a pretty expensive proposition, but it certainly justifiable in some situations. This kind of true PM is best left for the professional tech.

What seems to be more commonly done is to just replace the wear items and fix anything that is broken. This is a reasonable approach for someone that has access to a repair tech and isn't afraid of losing several hours worth of sales in case the machine goes down unexpectedly.

My regular service inspection goes top-to-bottom, verifying proper function of all machine systems and looking for early signs of failure. It takes about an hour for me to complete, including replacing screens, gaskets, screws, and probably a couple of other wear items. It is appropriate for local customers that I have on a quarterly schedule, none of which are terribly high-volume.

Aside from the gaskets and screens, I'd check the following items:
Remove covers and trace the entire hydraulic path, checking for evidence of water or steam leaks. Look and listen - I like tight machines: no steam leaks allowed, no water leaks allowed. Check vacuum breaker to verify that it functions correctly. Observe the pressure gage to make sure that the pressurestat and pump are functioning properly. Check for leaks at the steamwand joint, and look for signs that the steam valve may need work. Check the water filtration system and maintain as required.

Oh, PLEASE be careful when working with the covers removed so that you don't electrocute or burn yourself! Steam burns can be really bad and getting shocked with 220v will ruin your day.

As a last step, reassemble the machine and clean it thoroughly. Also clean the counter underneath the machine to make it easier to spot future water leaks. Check cleanliness of portafilters and baskets... not sure what your daily routine is, but if you're not seeing clean brass clean them till you do.

Don't neglect the grinders. Thoroughly clean the grinding chamber area, chute, hopper, and doser - disassemble as needed. This should actually be a regular cleaning item. Again, going for clean bare metal and plastic with zero residue.

Here's the rub - after you've completed all of this, you will probably find that something needs work. The great value of having a tech do this inspection is that they will spot the things you don't, then immediately and properly fix the stuff that needs it. You'll be tempted to wait until next week when you have more time or when rent's not due or... Before you know it 3 months have passed and the problem gets worse and THEN you call the tech and it costs twice as much to fix. DIY on small stuff is fine, but make sure you call in a pro promptly for anything more than gaskets and screens.

One other thought... As a customer, you ought to know exactly what your $250 is getting you. For that much money it is far more than gaskets and screens and an hour of looking things over. Do you have an itemized invoice available? Your tech is either doing a very good and thorough job or just be ripping you off. Probably the first one, but its hard to know from what you've posted so far.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Plaugher on June 30, 2010 at 9:40am

Thank you! This was a very helpful post. You gave me such a well rounded answer, addressing the practicality of replacing things like gaskets myself, but also made the great suggestions about things like what a tech will notice and I wont. Thank you. Very informative.

The rest of you were helpful as well. Thank you all for your contributions!

Brady said:

One thing that I've noticed is the wide variety of things that are recommended for "Preventative Maintenance". You have to consider what your goal is. If your goal is to prevent your machine from ever breaking down, you'll replace a pretty extensive set of parts (pressurestats, hi-limits, solenoid valves) on a regular basis long before it fails. That's a pretty expensive proposition, but it certainly justifiable in some situations. This kind of true PM is best left for the professional tech.

What seems to be more commonly done is to just replace the wear items and fix anything that is broken. This is a reasonable approach for someone that has access to a repair tech and isn't afraid of losing several hours worth of sales in case the machine goes down unexpectedly.

My regular service inspection goes top-to-bottom, verifying proper function of all machine systems and looking for early signs of failure. It takes about an hour for me to complete, including replacing screens, gaskets, screws, and probably a couple of other wear items. It is appropriate for local customers that I have on a quarterly schedule, none of which are terribly high-volume.

Aside from the gaskets and screens, I'd check the following items:
Remove covers and trace the entire hydraulic path, checking for evidence of water or steam leaks. Look and listen - I like tight machines: no steam leaks allowed, no water leaks allowed. Check vacuum breaker to verify that it functions correctly. Observe the pressure gage to make sure that the pressurestat and pump are functioning properly. Check for leaks at the steamwand joint, and look for signs that the steam valve may need work. Check the water filtration system and maintain as required.

Oh, PLEASE be careful when working with the covers removed so that you don't electrocute or burn yourself! Steam burns can be really bad and getting shocked with 220v will ruin your day.

As a last step, reassemble the machine and clean it thoroughly. Also clean the counter underneath the machine to make it easier to spot future water leaks. Check cleanliness of portafilters and baskets... not sure what your daily routine is, but if you're not seeing clean brass clean them till you do.

Don't neglect the grinders. Thoroughly clean the grinding chamber area, chute, hopper, and doser - disassemble as needed. This should actually be a regular cleaning item. Again, going for clean bare metal and plastic with zero residue.

Here's the rub - after you've completed all of this, you will probably find that something needs work. The great value of having a tech do this inspection is that they will spot the things you don't, then immediately and properly fix the stuff that needs it. You'll be tempted to wait until next week when you have more time or when rent's not due or... Before you know it 3 months have passed and the problem gets worse and THEN you call the tech and it costs twice as much to fix. DIY on small stuff is fine, but make sure you call in a pro promptly for anything more than gaskets and screens.

One other thought... As a customer, you ought to know exactly what your $250 is getting you. For that much money it is far more than gaskets and screens and an hour of looking things over. Do you have an itemized invoice available? Your tech is either doing a very good and thorough job or just be ripping you off. Probably the first one, but its hard to know from what you've posted so far.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Permalink Reply by Chris on June 30, 2010 at 11:37am

OTOH, you could ask your tech what you're getting for your $250, and ask him how you could reduce your bill. What things could be put off to every other or every third visit, which are happening that you could be taking care of, etc.
This way, he's still involved and you're not paying for things you don't need. I mean, this is the guy that you call when things get all pear shaped, right? As a technician that installs and maintains systems as well, if one of my customers removes me from regular maintenance, and then calls me with an emergency that could have been foreseen at a regular maintenance visit, I make it up in emergency charges. And they're usually late, or early, or some other inconvenient time. Add to that that I have to pay next day rates for parts that I don't have on hand, etc.
Plus, ignored problems are *AWAYS* more expensive than preventing them.

That said, I've spent a bit of time learning how to disassemble the groups on my machine, descale the boiler, maintain the softener, replace gaskets (group and otherwise), disassemble and clean all my grinders, and most of the maintenance that my machinery needs. I still get parts trough my local wrenches even though I can get them delivered cheaper through the interwebs, still stop by for a chat and some advice, and will still give them the gig if I think that it's over my head.
Remember, though, I was very electromechanically inclined before I got my first espresso machine, though.